What struck me about the program — which, like other walk-to-run programs, aims to make non-runners capable of running a 5K (3.1 miles) in 12 weeks or so — was who was in it: People who detested running. Mostly women, mostly women in the 40-50 range who were finding that their thrice weekly walk around the lake was no longer cutting it, thanks to their slowed metabolism. They hadn’t run much as kids (let alone competitively), they had avoided it as much as possible as adults — save the for the occasional sprint to catch a plane. Yet here they were, showing up three times a week and gradually turning into runners. Or at least faster walkers. These runner wannabees weren’t alone.

Fit-tastic and similar programs that have sprouted over the last few years can’t offer enough programs to meet demand. Most have registration caps to keep participants from becoming lost in the shuffle.

Take the example of Fit-tastic, launched by TAF owner Mike Zimmerman. The first session, in fall 2008, had about 60 participants. A spring program was added in 2009 based on demand, and the sessions have more than doubled in size. “We feel that may be a bit high so we’re looking at capping this spring at 100,” says Zimmerman.

While such programs offer participants the training to run a 5K, not all participants go that route.

“We will have four training groups this spring,” says Zimmerman, “walking, beginning walk/run, intermediate walk/run and running.  The walk/run groups are usually the most popular as many participants are ‘repeat offenders’ in the program and have some fitness base. However, we feel it  is very important to have the walking and running groups. The walking group is important for those who have never exercised before and need a way to start.  Some simply cannot run initially.  The running group is important because we want folks to have the chance to develop into true runners.” (Some of the initial participants are now running half marathons, Zimmerman reports.)

Zimmerman says it’s not necessarily the running that attracts people to programs such as his.

“We offer a friendly and supportive atmosphere to all participants regardless of their fitness level or experience.  There is always a good bit of trepidation and intimidation for folks who haven’t done this before.”  He adds: “We try to remove as much of the fear as possible.”

He says the program is popular, too, because “people bond with others who are going through the same things they are and feel they have a great support group.  There are several small groups who have continued to exercise together after the program because they’ve become such good friends.”

Such programs often include an educational element and health screenings, and lest you think the groups are run by poseurs like me, they are not. Trained coaches, people who are or have been active runners, lead each group. “We also pay our coaches and expect them to take their responsibilities seriously,” says Zimmerman.

“We try to educate participants on the need to use this program as a way to transform their lives and develop new habits that will extend beyond the 12 weeks of the program,” Zimmerman adds. “We want people to see this program as a new beginning to the rest of their lives.”

This year’s spring version of Fit-tastic starts March 21. You can find out more about that program as well as other walk-to-run beginner programs in the Triangle and Charlotte below. You can find out more about the walk-to-run approach here and read a story on walk-to-run programs I wrote last year for the Observers (Charlotte and News &) here.

Photo: Runners — and runners-to-be — warm up before a training run at last fall’s Fit-tastic session.

The programs

Note: Programs generally do not include registration fee for target race.

Triangle

Running Start

Briefly: 11-week program, target race is Race for the Cure 5K on June 11.

Starts: Training begins late March.

Sponsor: Carolina Godiva Track Club.

Cost: tba.

More info here.

No Boundaries

Briefly: 12 weeks, target race is Race for the Cure 5K on June 11.

Starts: March 23 (informational meetings at 7 p.m. Feb. 22, March 15 and 22, at Fleet Feet’s Wade Avenue store.

Sponsor: Fleet Feet, Raleigh.

Cost: $85 until March 15, $90 thereafter.

More info: Fleet Feet at 832-8275 or here.

Fit-Tastic

Briefly: 13 weeks, target race is Race for the Cure 5K on June 11.

Starts: March 21 (informational meetings March 9 and 16 at 6 p.m. at The Athlete’s Foot store in Cameron Village).

Sponsor: The Athlete’s Foot, Raleigh.

Cost: $70.

More info: 828-3487 or here.

Women’s Beginner Running Program

Briefly: 10 weeks, target race is NCRC Women’s Distance Festival 5K in late September.

Starts: Late July.

Sponsor: N.C. Roadrunners Club.

Cost: $75 (includes club membership).

More info: womenbeginnertraining@ncroadrunners.org.

Raleigh Galloway

Briefly: Five-month program, target race is City of Oaks Marathon and Half Marathon on Nov. 6.

Starts: April 23 with a training marathon seminar featuring Jeff Galloway at the N.C. Museum of Art from 9-11:30 a.m.

Sponsor: Jeff Galloway Training Programs.

Cost: $159 for first-timers, $99 for alumni.

More info: 270-0365  or go here.

Sole Sisters

Briefly: 11-year-old, 14-week, women-only program, target race is Race for the Cure 5K on June 11.

Starts: March 14, orientation meeting for newcomers is March 1 at 6 p.m. at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill.

Sponsor: Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, NC Cancer Hospital.

Cost: Free.

More info: 843-8057, or here.

Charlotte

Interval Running Training

Briefly: 8 weeks, target race is 6th Annual Morrison 5K/10K on May 14.

Starts: March 24.

Sponsor: Ballantyne Village YMCA, Charlotte
Cost: $35, $25 for facility members.

More info: (704) 716-4680 or here.

Run for You

Briefly: 9 weeks, target race for current session: Great Harvest Bread Co. 5K on May 21.

Starts: Ongoing, next session starts March 21 at Run for You’s Dilworth store, March 22 at the Piper Glen location.

Sponsor: Run for Your Life, Charlotte.

Cost: $99 new members, $89 program alumni.

More info: (704) 541-9665, or the Web site.

Charlotte Galloway

Briefly: Five-month program, target races vary.

Starts: May.

Sponsor: Jeff Galloway Training Programs.

Cost: $159 for first-time marathoners, $99 for marathon alumni, $95 for first-time half-marathoners, $75 for half-marathon alumni.

More info: runwalk26@yahoo.com.

The post Walk now, run by summer appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

“I wasn’t weepy or mopey or sad,” recalls Charles West of his bonk near the end of the epic trail run he did September 11 with Mike Walsh and Mike Day. “I just didn’t feel well.” Unwell enough that he couldn’t figure out how to operate his CamelBak for a simple drink of water. Unwell enough that Day, the senior runner of the three, immediately identified West’s problem and prescribed the ultimate horror of any parent of a 3-year-old: Do as much sugar as you can in the next hour. Enough sugar to hopefully get him to the finish four miles down the ridgeline in the Davidson River Campground.

Invoking the philosophy of the founder and director of the Umstead 100-Mile Endurance Run, West notes, “As Blake Norwood says, ultra running is a series of problems to solve.”

* * *

At lunch with Mike Walsh this summer we were talking about a backpacking book I was wrapping up when the topic turned to a popular trip in the book: the 31-mile Art Loeb. I mentioned that I had half-heartedly toyed with the idea of hiking the entire trail in one day.

“That’s funny,” Walsh replied. “I’ve thought about running the whole thing at once.” Less than two months later, he did.

Running the Art Loeb in a day would strike anyone familiar with the trail, respected as much for its elevation as its duration, as daft. Anyone familiar with Mike Walsh would hear the plan and simply say, “Yeah, I can see that.”

Walsh, who is 43 and lives in Apex, is a past president of the North Carolina Road Runners Club and boasts a running resume a marathon long. Make that a double marathon, closer to the length of the trail races he logs regularly, from the nighttime Boogie 50 Mile Run to the Landsford Canal 50K to the Hinson Lake 24-Hour Ultra Classic to the upcoming Mountain Masochist (part of The Beast Series). Since 2001, Walsh has run 47 races of marathon length (26.2 miles) or longer. Comparatively, the 31-mile Art Loeb, even though it’s in the mountainous Pisgah National Forest (including a long stretch in the Shining Rock Wilderness) and the trail’s elevation ranges from 2,200 feet to over 6,000 feet, is a stroll in the park.

Shortly after our lunch, Walsh began looking for runners to share the experience. (Of running, he says, “I love the social side, and have membership in NCRC, Godiva, Mangum Track Club, Runner From Hell and Team Slug.”) Initially, nearly everyone he asked was game. As the September 11 run date neared, only two remained committed: Charles West, 42 of Cary, and Mike Day. West is a relative newcomer to running, taking his first steps in 2006 to lose weight (he has since dropped 60 pounds). The habit stuck: Among his race credits are the Midnight Boogie Marathon and a 35-mile FatAss race. Day is the veteran of the group.

Over the next two months — but mostly over the week leading up to September 11 (there was no scheduling significance to the date) — the team worked on logistics. At 6:20 a.m. on the 11th, from a surreptitious campsite near the north end of the Art Loeb, Walsh, West and Day began their 31-mile day with a stout three-mile, nearly 3,000-vertical-foot climb to the spine of the Shining Rock ledge.

“We were running sort of a pitter-patter,” says Walsh. “It was more of a power hike.”

It was a planned strategy, to not burn out on those first three, challenging miles. The climb took about an hour and 15 minutes, a 25-minute-per-mile pace. The three were content with the pace and confident they could work it down to about 15 minutes per mile once the trail leveled some. In fact, says Walsh, once on the ridgeline the three settled into a pace that ranged from 20- to 22-minute miles.

The six miles across the ledge to Shining Rock passed uneventfully. West’s lone observation: “You have to wear eye protection. I kept getting hit with branches.” Adds Walsh: “I’m short. I go under the branches.”

The lull would end as the three exited the Shining Rock Wilderness and neared Ivestor Gap. Between the Shining Rock Wilderness and the Blue Ridge Parkway, a distance of roughly four miles, is an area unique in North Carolina’s high country. Severe fires in 1925 and again in 1942 burned so deep into the soil that plant life has been slow to return. As a result, the area surrounding Ivestor Gap is one of the few exposed mountaintops in the state. As such, the views are great. But in the summer, the exposure also leaves hikers (and trail runners) exposed to afternoon thunderstorms. On September 11, those storms would come early.

Saturday: Running through the rain, running through low blood sugar, running for a Mountain Dew and a Moon Pie.

The post The 31-mile Art Loeb Trail: A nice day’s run appeared first on GetGoing NC!.